Sharks fan thankful for lifesavers around him

Hockey season may be over, but one fan is thanking those at the shark tank for saving his life.

It happened in April, when Brian Ragusa suffered a heart attack at a game. But it turned out he was surrounded by people who knew just what to do.

Ragusa and his wife Lisa are celebrating the little things in life after a brush with death which nearly took the 57-year-old out of the game.

On April 3, Ragusa went to a San Jose Sharks game at the tank. He asked his best friend Sergio Arellano, a San Jose firefighter, to come along.

"I texted him last minute. I said, 'Lisa couldn't go to the game, would you like to go?' and he texted me back and said, 'No, can't make it. I have to work.' But he ended up going anyway," said Ragusa.

The first few minutes of the game is all Ragusa remembers. Ragusa said, "We stood up for the national anthem and apparently from some friends in the section, they said I stood up, but I fell right back into the chair."

Ragusa was having a massive heart attack. Luckily, a paramedic from Modesto and a nurse from Monterey were sitting nearby and started CPR until paramedics arrived. Believe it or not, the first medic through the door was Arellano.

Arellano told ABC7 News, "I didn't have any idea it was him, but I had a bad feeling."

Days later, Ragusa had a successful quadruple bypass and would later learn about all the lifesavers around him.

Ragusa said he had "angels on my shoulders -- the firefighter that was sitting behind me and the RN that was a few rows down."

Ragusa was especially lucky to have his friend Arellano nearby.

"It really is a miracle. I can't believe it he's going to celebrate a birthday I'm excited," said Arellano.

Ragusa turns 58 in a few weeks and will celebrate his wedding anniversary on Wednesday.

When asked if he would go back to a Sharks game, Ragusa replied, "Oh, yeah. No, this didn't kill the fun."